Respite
by wendymarlowe
Summary: Loki has usurped his father's throne - and his face. But the crown begins to wear heavy when he can never show his own form, even for a moment. Heimdall offers a solution. (Post-Thor 2 world. Based entirely on the movies - I'm sure there may be lots of backstory in the comics I'm missing, but I did this without having read them.)


"A message for you, All-Father."

Loki accepted the note and dismissed the soldier. His ancient fingers fumbled as he unfolded the paper - no matter how long he held his father's form, he would never quite be as comfortable as he was in his old skin . . .

TREASON. The word stood out against the others on the page. Heimdall wanted to talk to the king about treason. As soon as possible. There was no way around it, so no sense waiting - Heimdall was a law unto his own in some ways, and this was one of them.

Loki gathered an honor guard of four soldiers to come with him to the rainbow bridge, just as they would expect from Odin the All-Father. It had been two months - nearly two months - since Loki had assumed his father's form and crown, and the role was beginning to wear thin. Loki happily shouldered the burden of ruling Asgard, and just as happily passed the soldiering on to Thor (who - unsurprisingly - suspected nothing), but the prize came with a hell of a lot of strings attached. Such as jumping at Heimdall's summons in the same way his father would have.

There was plenty of time to stew on the way to Bifrost. Loki had to remind himself to slow his steps, matching his father's usual gait. The eyepatch itched. _When did that start bothering me?_ he thought briefly. It never seemed that irksome before . . .

Heimdall was waiting for them at the end of the bridge, arms akimbo, face as grave as ever. Loki drew up in front of him and waited.

"Dismiss your soldiers."

Loki studied Heimdall's face, trying to read the meaning behind his words, but the gatekeeper stood as still as the bridge he guarded. Loki shrugged and turned to his honor guard. "Wait for me back in the throne room."

Heimdall nodded and motioned for Loki to follow him further, toward the portals. He never really turned fully away from his sword, Loki noticed - force of habit, or just ever-vigilant? "You are not Odin," he announced once the soldiers were far enough away to not hear.

Loki froze. "You question your king?" Somehow the denial lacked the strength he had intended.

"I have no need of questions," the gatekeeper replied. "I saw you in Svartalfheim, and I saw you return in the guise of a soldier. I saw what you did with your father and I have watched you don his face for these last two months. And and as I am honor-bound to report treason to my king, I hereby report your own treason to you."

Loki blinked. Then laughed. "I cannot fault your attention to duty." He turned to go.

"There is more," Heimdall continued, and Loki halted. "I have also watched you sink deeper into yourself since you became king. You are putting Asgard at risk."

"And what would you know about what Asgard needs?" Loki demanded. "Everything I do from that throne, I do for Asgard!"

"That is true, but merely a half-truth. You do this also because you desire power." Heimdall regarded him steadily. "If you continue on as you have been, you will fail."

"You predict the future now?" Loki smirked at him. "I shall have to remember to bring a oracle-gift next time I see you."

Heimdall took a step toward him, then another. Loki held his ground, until their chests were practically touching. "You long for release," Heimdall said. "You wish to live in your own body, at least for a while."

It was true, but Loki wasn't about to admit it._ If this is the price of the throne . . ._

Heimdall casually reached down between the two of them and closed his hand over Loki's cock. Loki's first instinct was to jump back, but he quelled it. Better to not react, to do nothing, to act as if it didn't phase him -

"Do it now," Heimdall commanded. "This is the one place in all of Asgard where you can show your true form without fear of discovery. Show me your face, Loki."

There was no point in maintaining the charade . . . Loki let the illusion of his father shimmer away. Heimdall nodded once at the change, not varying the pressure on Loki's cock by even a flicker of his fingers. Loki began to wonder what the gatekeeper intended to do -

And then he didn't have to wonder, because Heimdall had undone Loki's belt and was lowering his trousers and then he was holding Loki's bare cock in his tightly controlled grip. Which was hardening, whether or not Loki gave it permission to do so.

"I am bound to serve my king," Heimdall said. "And what Asgard's king needs now is permission to drop his shields and experience release in his own form on occasion." He massaged gently, and Loki had a terrible time keeping his face frozen in its pleasantly blank mask. "You will come to me when you need to rest in your own skin, or when you want to attend to other needs you cannot do in your father's form. This is the service I will provide."

Loki allowed himself one deep breath in, one deep breath out. He had never particularly thought about Heimdall and his cock - any cock at all, really - in the same context with each other. Heimdall wasn't sexual, he just . . . was. And he was rolling Loki's balls between his fingertips in a seductive rhythm Loki was hard-pressed to resist.

But he tried, more out of habit than any real objection. "What if - what if my taste for this service doesn't run to over-muscled gatekeeper gods?" His voice went a bit higher at the end than he had intended.

Heimdall smiled a small smile and ran his thumb along the underside of Loki's shaft, flicking the tip gently. "I see your tastes as well, my king. If you wanted me in another form, you could have put up the illusion in a moment. But you haven't - you wonder what this will be like."

Loki met the gatekeeper's eyes - and for the first time in his life, he couldn't lie. "You speak the truth."

"Then I will speak another." Heimdall tightened his grip and locked eyes with his king. "This will become one of my most treasured duties." And he began to move.


End file.
